Alan Parsons' "Art and Science of Sound Recording"

If it doesn’t sound right to the
human ear, it’s not going to
sound right to the microphone,”
notes Alan Parsons on his Art &
Science of Sound Recording DVD.
Parsons—a multi-platinum producer/
engineer/composer who’s revered
for his work on the Beatles’ Let It Be
and Abbey Road, and on Pink Floyd’s
Dark Side of the Moon—took the
time to create a unique educational
product that encompasses over 10
hours of material. It’s a project I feel
PG readers who want to learn more
about recording, mixing, and production
should take a look at.

In Art & Science of Sound
Recording, Parsons addresses many
topics, including the history of
recording, studio acoustics, microphones,
consoles, digital audio and
computers, internet recording, and
so on. But he also gets specific,
demonstrating how to use EQ,
compression, limiting, noise gates,
reverb, and delay, and how to
capture vocals, drums, keyboards,
bass, electric guitar, and acoustic
guitar with vocals. There’s a section
on mixing and dealing with disasters,
as well as a handful of studio
stories. And hey, we even get some
narration by Billy Bob Thornton.

There are also some great interviews
with other leading engineers
and producers who discuss their
styles and techniques. One of my
favorite quotes was from David
Thoener (AC/DC, Santana, Bon
Jovi), who said, “It’s not the technology
that dictates the sound
of the record, it’s the man that’s
working the technology.”

I like how Parsons takes the
time in each section to get fairly
deep into the topic. These are not
just shallow introductions on a
subject—it’s real meat from someone
with a lot of experience. In the
guitar section, for example, there’s
an excellent interview with L.A.
session master Tim Pierce, who
discusses using different pickups
while surrounded by a stack of
tasty heads, pedals, and outboard
gear. I like how he says, “If you
have a good Les Paul and a good
Stratocaster, you can do 90 percent
of what you need to do.” But Pierce
also talks about the importance of
having a wide variety of sounds,
and then walks the talk by getting
killing tones out of a Kay guitar.
He also wisely states, “Really, the
tube guitar amp is everything.”
There’s an interesting section with
Pierce tracking a session on one of
Parsons’ tunes, which they break
out and mix later in the DVD.

Parsons also talks with producers
John Shanks (Sheryl Crow,
Christina Aguilera) and John
Fields (Jonas Brothers, Miley
Cyrus), as well as writer/producer
Patrick Leonard (Elton John,
Madonna) about such things
as amp blending, room sounds,
reverbs, mics, and tones.

In the guitar section, Parsons
digs into amps, speakers, and
mics, and talks about his choice
of full-range condenser mics on
guitar cabinets. Watching and listening
to the sonic changes as he
alters mic positions on a cabinet
reveals the subtle differences you
can achieve by moving a mic just
a few inches. He also discusses
amp modeling using hardware
and plug-ins, and offers his views
on pedals, building up guitar
overdubs, tuning, and soloing.

Parsons describes working with
George Harrison, who would plod
his way through a solo in the early
stages, but just keep playing it over
and over until he didn’t make a
mistake. That was Harrison’s methodology—
keep playing the part,
keep developing the tune, keep the
good bits and remove the bad bits.
Good advice when you can do it!

While discussing acoustic
guitars, Parsons again returns to
Tim Pierce to talk about effective
recording and production techniques.
Pierce illustrates a point
by recording and layering stereo
acoustics over a track to help
make the chorus “explode.”

Then there is an entire chapter
discussing how to record an
acoustic while singing at the same
time. Anyone who has ever tried
this knows how tricky it can be.
Parsons talks about choosing mics
and how to use different polar
patterns and various mic’ing positions
to get the job done.

Another useful chapter is the
one on mixing. Parsons demonstrates
some of the techniques mixers
use, such as track consolidation,
clearing unused tracks, and recall
and automation. He interviews producer/
engineers Jimmy Douglass
(Bjork, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake)
and Elliot Scheiner (Steely Dan,
Foo Fighters) about challenges and
issues that mixers face. Producer/
engineers Chuck Ainlay (Dire
Straights, Peter Frampton) and
Jack Joseph Puig (Green Day, U2)
talk about mixing on an analog
console and some of the differences
between that approach and working
“in the box”—mixing within
a computer or digital audio workstation
(DAW).

Parsons also breaks out a DAW-recorded
song by sending the individual
tracks into a console. While
mixing these tracks, he discusses
using EQ and effects, as well as
considerations for balancing all
the parts. It’s inspiring to watch
an experienced engineer work at
his craft. Again, he hits it right on
the head with statements like, “A
mix is extremely subjective, and it
can often be the source of conflicts
between musicians, producers,
engineers, and record company
A&R departments.”

Art & Science of Sound
Recording is full of useful information,
but it never gets boring. The
mix of Parsons’ personal narration
and demonstrations, Thornton’s
voiceovers, interesting graphics,
audio examples, and interviews
keeps the course flowing. A lot
of work went into not only the
content of this project, but also
its presentation and delivery.

You can buy the material as
a DVD boxed set or a complete
download—or purchase individual
sections via download. An
educational license for school
programs is also available. I
highly recommend Art & Science
of Sound Recording. Studying this
material is time well spent, and
virtually everybody in the biz can
learn something from it.

Rich Tozzoli is a
Grammy-nominated
engineer and mixer who
has worked with artists
ranging from Al Di
Meola to David Bowie.
A life-long guitarist, he’s
also the author of Pro Tools Surround
Sound Mixing and composes for the
likes of Fox NFL, Discovery Channel,
Nickelodeon, and HBO.

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